Craft brew sales are on the rise in the U.S. again (or rather, still), and has been even during the worst year of the recession. That's saying something, because on the average craft brew seems more expensive. What it says to me is, if you're going to drink Miller Light, why drink at all? Then again, I'm a weak drinker, so what I drink has to count on a taste rather than per volume basis.
After you buy all the grains and whatnot to brew at home, is it cheaper to just buy craft beers at the store? ... I'll get back to you on that.
Soon we'll be able to crack into the Scottish Ale we bottled previously. It smelled quite good when I opened one (for quality testing purposes). But it was still a bit too young. D and I are already plotting our next batch. D enjoys the chemistry and crafting of beer as well as drinking it.
I thought it would be fun to come up with a maker's mark if you will, slap some labels on our drab little brown beer bottles. Perhaps something with our name (not that we're selling them, just because. Becauuuse... its neat to have beer with our name on it? And maybe we can give some as gifts or something.). Previously I had supposed that most homebrewers don't bother with labels. But when you consider all the creative mixing of spices, choosing of malts and boiling of hops, etc. that goes into creating their intoxicating intoxicant of choice, why wouldn't they be creative about it? Not that a pretty label is indicative of anything at all.
Thank Heaven For Beer puts it succintly:
Clearly, the aesthetic qualities of a bottle of beer (or the lack thereof) will not manipulate my taste buds into appreciating a particular beer more or less, but they may arrest my attention as I stroll down the beer aisle. If anything, they will leave me obliged to the brewer for putting heart and soul into every detail.
On the other hand, drinking a nasty beer out of a beautiful bottle irritates me.
 |
| Beer by State, from Bottoms Up |
Like this one from Brisbane. (ha)
This label from Beer in Baltimore? Classic. Love it.
This one I quite like. Quite gothic.
These altered labels, good for a laugh
These fake beer labels, which I enjoy
I had to start looking into beer brewing to get a better idea of where to begin. There's an entire forum dedicated to the art of beerlabels at HomeBrewTalk. This directed me to the Beer Labellizer. I thoroughly enjoyed how easy this was to mock up a label with our brewname on it. I showed D what I had chosen, and he was scandalized by how girly it was. He flat out refused!
 |
| from the Beer Labelizer |
Well you know what that means. Now I have to make my own. I've decided. Perhaps a wee heavy. I shall call it the Fancy Drop. The bottle will be the girliest thing you've ever seen. I mean I will glue ribbons onto it. Glitter, perhaps.
I am not a graphic designer (my art software is Paint, if that tells you anything), but I'd like to roll up my sleeves and give this a try. It'll be fun!
Well, if you know of a good stock image source, let me know! Somewhere with vintage images. Or overly feminine jpegs. Ponies, rainbows, that sort of thing. White fluffy kitties sitten on damask patterned davenports.
I'll have to measure the bottle to see if that's the look I like. Of course, by "I like" I mean "we like." I'll be trying to mock something up on the computer and print out a batch. If it looks all right I'll print another batch onto 8.5 x 11 in. sticker paper (which is not cheap). The internet also imparted this wisdom to me: Laserjet not Inkjet. Laserjet = resists water damage, while inkjet = wet, runny mess.
Hm. What kind of printer do we have...?
Hm. What kind of printer do we have...?
This foray into the world of beer has been quite educational. I've learned, for example, an entirely unexpected use for milk.
What am I getting myself into,
This Wee Heavy recipe may as well be written in Latin.
http://www.mashspargeboil.com/brewing-a-scotch-ale-wee-heavy-recipe/
Favorite Home Brew Labels from the web :
No comments:
Post a Comment